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The Hague 100 years later...



Re, a reminder: " The Hague Appeal for Peace Conference commemorates the
100th anniversary of the First International Peace Conference, an 1899
meeting that sought to avert violence in the 20th Century.The 1899
meeting was called by Russian Czar Nicholas II, who feared German
aggression and hoped to avert danger..."

The Czar, 18 years later lost his throne, and was later killed, his
family butchered. Civil war, communism vs capitalism etc butchered the
century.  Now 100 years later, will the leaders and politicians, bankers
and industrialists, who have usurped the workers of the world, do any
better, with all this newly found freedom of the 20th century. A little
more wisdom, a lot more support by governments for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,
and lot more pressure on the generals and their supporters in capitals
around the world, might just, in a little way, help get the next century
on a better track than its on right now. 

Remember the newly elected government of Nigeria has said NO! to Burma. 
This is a major oil and gas producing country. I hope its a sign of the
times. There is no sense in not trying!

ds



Julien Moe wrote:
> 
> Wednesday May 12 3:07 AM ET
> 
> Peace Advocates Gather in The Hague
> 
> THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Peace advocates are gathering this week to
> promote a 21st century without war, launching campaigns against nuclear
> weapons, child soldiers and small arms.
> 
> Some 5,000 participants - including Nobel laureates, religious leaders, and
> the U.N. secretary-general - will meet in the Netherlands for a four-day
> conference beginning today to discuss how to create ``a culture of peace''
> in the new millennium.
> 
> The conference is launching several political campaigns including efforts to
> stop the use of child soldiers, nuclear weapons and small arms. Two other
> new programs will promote education about peace and raise support for the
> permanent international criminal court.
> 
> The Washington-based Worldwatch Institute also hopes the conference will
> produce a peace proposal for the Balkans. Special sessions on the crisis in
> the Yugoslav province of Kosovo have been added to the schedule.
> 
> The Hague Appeal for Peace Conference commemorates the 100th anniversary of
> the First International Peace Conference, an 1899 meeting that sought to
> avert violence in the 20th Century.
> 
> The 1899 meeting was called by Russian Czar Nicholas II, who feared German
> aggression and hoped to avert danger.
> 
> Worldwatch estimates that by 1995, 110 million people had died in war.
> 
> ``There are no guarantees for a different outcome, but there is more
> political space and open discussion about what can be done,'' said Michael
> Renner, a senior researcher at Worldwatch. ``Just the experience of the 20th
> century can be seen as a warning. We have to pay closer attention to the
> root causes of conflict.''
> 
> U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Queen Noor of Jordan, Archbishop Desmond
> Tutu of South Africa, Jose Ramos-Horta of East Timor and John Hume of
> Northern Ireland are among those planning to attend.
> 
> One Nobel laureate who will not attend is Myanmar's pro-democracy leader,
> Aung San Suu Kyi.
> 
> In a tape due to be played at the conference, Suu Kyi said that a life
> without peace was not worth living. Life in military-ruled Myanmar, also
> known as Burma, is like a ``battlefield'' where human rights are constantly
> abused, she said.
> 
> ``When we talk of peace we cannot avoid talking about human rights,
> especially in a country like Burma where the people are troubled constantly
> by the lack of justice, by the lack of peace,'' she said.
> 
> Myanmar has been run by the military for decades. In 1990, the junta refused
> to recognize elections that gave Suu Kyi's party a landslide victory.